By George, Deer Park’s thrower shines at 33rd Bayou Classic

Published 5:42 am, Tuesday, April 7, 2015

A handful of Deer Park High School track and field athletes competed last weekend at the prestigious 33rd annual Victor Lopez Bayou Classic at Rice University.

A meet for both the high school and college athletes, the meet brought together some of the region’s if not the state’s best heading into the final weeks of the high school track campaign.

The highlight for the maroon and gold was thrower Shalia George collecting points in the discus. George captured fourth place when one of her throws led to a toss of 116 feet, 4 inches. It arrived on her first throw and after all the competitors had gone, George found herself all alone in second place.

But over the ensuing rounds, George slipped to fourth but it was still good enough to give Deer Park its only points. Cori Runnels of Langham Creek cornered the discus title with a throw of 139 feet, 11 inches.

In the shot put, George had to settle for 18th place out of 34 throwers with a heave of 30 feet, 10 inches. In eighth place, the final position where an athlete could score points, was a competitor from Klein Oak, who tossed the shot put with a throw of 35 feet, 9.5 inches.

Another Lady Deer that competed was Emily Kent. The sprinter tried her luck in the 200 and 400-meters. In the 200, she was seeded 22nd from a pool of 86 runners with a run of 26.08 seconds. With the eight-best times advancing to the finals, eighth plae went to a Cy-Springs girl who was clocked at 25.32 seconds.

In the 400, Kent was clocked at 1:00.90, good for 21st. A Kingwood girl claimed the eighth and final seed with a run of 59.07 seconds.

Like Kent and George, Demi Olivier was busy representing Deer Park. In the hurdles, Olivier cornered 33rd place with her time of 17.24 seconds. A Hightower young lady tallied the eighth seed to the finals with a run of 15.19 seconds.

In the 300-meter hurdles, Olivier notched 27th at 48.93 seconds. A Langham Creek athlete secured the eighth-best qualifying time at 45.55 seconds.

Parham, competing among the region’s top sprinters, placed 31st in the 100-meter dash with a run of 11.60 seconds. A Klein Oak runner nailed down the eighth-best qualifying time after his sprint of 11.15 seconds. A total of 67 100-meter runners toed the starting line when it was all said and done.

Then in the 200, Parham earned 29th place with a run of 23.28 seconds. Jacko was 41st at 23.95 seconds. A Hightower sprinter tackled eighth place at 22.30 seconds.

For the 400-meter dash, Martinez had the 44th-best time of 53.69 seconds. A Houston Westside sprinter owned the eighth-best time of 50.09 seconds.

For the 800-meter run, Greer snagged 38th place in 2:09.58. A Woodlands runner earned the final qualifying time of 2:00.66.

For the 300-meter hurdles, Gonzales had to settle for 29th place at 43.02 seconds. From the Cinco Ranch camp, a hurdler owned eighth at 39.89 seconds.

For Deer Park’s distance folks, they received a first-hand account on how tough the region is. Wagner, in the 3000-meter run, bagged 26th with an effort of 9:32.62. But a Woodlands runner tabulated eighth place at 8:56.31.

Then in the 1500-meters, Trevino went home with 26th place and the time of 4:17.11 from a field of 56 competitors. A Strake Jesuit runner hammered home the eighth-best qualifying time for the finals at 4:02.09.